


Weakness

by Twyd



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Caretaking, Denial of Feelings, Fluff and Angst, Injury, Injury Recovery, Internal Conflict, M/M, Organized Crime, Pre-Slash, Protectiveness, Secret Crush, Sex, Slash, Teen Crush, Yakuza
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2019-04-14 23:06:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14146605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twyd/pseuds/Twyd
Summary: "Shiki finds his informant bleeding out on the sidewalk. He sighs. He doesn’t have time for this."





	Weakness

Shiki tuts in annoyance. If the informant hadn’t been halfway through an important assignment, if he weren’t so annoyingly good at his job, Shiki would leave him there. He’s been sending the younger man on his most dangerous assignments for a reason, after all.

Or so he tells himself. He tells himself it is convenience that he keeps Orihara around. Not grudging respect, and certainly not a long developing fondness.

He orders his driver to pull over and gets out. More than half of Orihara’s clothes are covered in blood. Shiki bends and takes his pulse, ignoring the blood on his wrist. It is erratic, but strong. He calls Shinra. No response. Strange. Perhaps he is dealing with another emergency. 

Orihara stirs then, mumbles something, and Shiki drops his wrist.

“Orihara."

Orihara blinks up at him like its an effort.

“What happened?” Shiki says roughly. He has an appointment in half an hour. 

Orihara’s mouth opens, but he doesn’t quite manage to speak. 

Shiki checks his watch again before coming to a decision.

“I’m going to pick you up.”

He gets his arms around Orihara and underneath his legs, lifting him to his chest. It is like lifting a doll. Seeing Shiki’s intentions, his driver gets out and opens the back door for him to deposit Orihara inside.

Doing so, Shiki walks round to the other side of the car and sits there with Orihara’s head his thigh. He tries Shinra again, to no avail. 

He meditates a few moments, before calling Akabayashi and telling him to handle tonight’s appointment by himself. Then he tells his driver to take him home.

-

Orihara’s blood is all over his back seat, Shiki’s jacket and now his couch. Shiki always thought such an occasion would bring him satisfaction, not the tired, bitter feeling he has now. He calls a different doctor - Shinra had had his chance. 

Orihara does not wake when Shiki removes his clothes and cleans him, nor when the doctor arrives to examine and bandage him. Stab wounds. Could have been worse.

When the doctor leaves, Shiki puts Orihara’s clothes in the machine and brings him a glass of water for when he wakes up. Subordinate things, things he shouldn’t be lowering himself too. He still refuses to admit he’d developed a grudging respect for his informant. A fondness, in a certain light. The plan had been to one day have him killed off, before his cockiness took him too far. Rough guilt and concern made no sense now.

Akabayashi calls to update him on the missed appointment. He doesn’t ask Shiki what came up. 

Shiki hears Orihara shifting around just as he ends the call. He approaches to find the informant trying to sit up in bed.

“Don’t strain yourself.”

Orihara gives him an uncertain look.

“What happened?”

Not even an attempt at humour. It is the most vulnerable Shiki has ever seen him. 

“You don’t remember? How inconvenient.”

Shiki makes a mental note to have the CCTV checked. 

For once, Orihara looks like he doesn’t know what to say. He looks at the blood on the sheets guiltily.

“Ah, I’m sorry, I’m sure it will come back to me. If you could just remind me what was discussed, what I did to…?”

He gestures to himself weakly. It takes Shiki a moment to realise what he means.

“ _ I _ didn’t do this to you.”

He looks confused.

“You didn’t?”

“I  _ found _ you like this, Orihara. By the side of the road. It was very inconvenient.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Shiki-san.” He looks relieved. “Very sorry for the inconvenience. But don’t worry, I’ll still work to the best of my abilities. I have eyes and ears everywhere, and I’m a fast healer.”

Shiki looks at him without comment, and his confidence trails off.

“Can I call Shinra?” 

“Shinra will not answer the phone. Another doctor has been and gone.”

Orihara looks down at himself, as if noticing his bandages for the first time. 

“...thank you?”

Shiki declines to comment.

“Shinra won’t answer at all?”

It occurs to him that Orihara may not believe him. He doesn’t know why this irritates him.

“By all means, try him yourself.”

Shiki gestures to Orihara’s phone, his wallet, his keys, next to the bed. 

“It’s kind of you to offer to continue working, but I think you should take a few days off.” Shiki takes a seat on the bed. “Perhaps you can give me a general update on what you've found so far?”

Orihara does, as coherent as if this were a scheduled appointment. But he doesn’t go into enough detail for Shiki to be able to hand over the work to somebody else. He’s clever like that. Shiki decides to provoke him even so.

“I thought you would be more careful,” Shiki muses.

“Careful?” Orihara is falters.

“I only took you in for the information you have, which you have just now handed over for nothing.”

Orihara shrugs, nonchalant.

“You can throw me out on the streets if you want, Shiki-san. I just thought you’d prefer a thorough job.”

That’s how Orihara had lasted so long, always calling Shiki’s bluff. If he wanted, Shiki could have the informant killed in a heartbeat. But Shiki hasn’t and won’t, and the informant seems to know it, the way animals knew when humans were afraid of them. 

“It was just a joke,” Shiki says.

Orihara stares at him.

“I’m teasing you,” he explains. “So you can see for yourself how annoying it is.”

Orihara gives a weak smile.

“Ah.” He pauses. “I was actually hoping that, if I told you enough, I could go home?”

The question at the end of the sentence irritates him.

“I’m not keeping you prisoner, Orihara. I didn’t have to take you off the streets, least of all into my home.”

“I know, I’m very grateful.”

He shifts around like a trapped animal, clearly uncomfortable.

Shiki watches him with a kind of grim pleasure.

“I had no idea my presence was so disagreeable to you.”

“No, no,” Orihara says awkwardly. He is pale and shaky. Shiki feels a little sorry for him. “Who changed my clothes?”

“A colleague.”

He did it himself, bloodying his hands along with the rest of his suit.

Orihara looks like he doesn’t believe him.

“Please give him my thanks.”

“You really don’t remember anything?”

“No.”

He’s lying. He’s less good at it when he’s hurt. Shiki plays along, expecting a text as soon as the CCTV had been checked.

“Can we assume it was Heiwajima?”

“Nah. He would have finished me off.”

Shiki doesn’t push it. He sees Orihara has finished his water, and it feels like he’s neglected a pet.

When he brings back a fresh glass, Orihara is asleep like a child, on his back, mouth slightly open, soundless. He doesn’t stir when Shiki leans over to put down the glass.

-

Shiki’s phone rings in the middle of the night. He sees Orihara’s name on the screen and is instantly awake.

“Orihara?”

“Can you come here?”

There is so much blood on Orihara, on the bed, on the floor, that Shiki thinks someone must have broke in and attacked him, until he says, “I think I’m hemorrhaging.”

The same doctor is called - no time to waster over Shinra.

Shiki is not impressed when he realises what happened.

“You would almost kill yourself in trying to leave?” he says incredulously. “I had no idea my presence was so disagreeable to you.”

“You’d be the same, in my position,” he growls. “I’m only here because you’re enjoying this.”

“Would I get you medical help if I was enjoying this?”

He says nothing, sullen and silent.

Shiki shakes his head.

“Get some sleep. Please don’t make an escape attempt again. I’m rather fond of my carpet.”

-

Orihara doesn’t attempt to escape again. He doesn’t eat either.

“Not hungry?”

“Not really.”

His stomach growls as he speaks, painstakingly loud, and Orihara blushes with embarrassment.

Shiki raises his eyebrows pointedly.

“Do you think I’d poison you?”

“No, I just…”

Shiki rolls his eyes.

“I don’t have time for this, Orihara. If I wanted to kill you I wouldn’t dress it up in soy sauce. You need to recover and get out, and to do that you need to eat."

“I can get out anyway,” he tells Shiki sullenly. “I said, my secretary will help me, and Shinra will get in touch eventually. You’re only keeping me here because you like seeing me like this. And you want me to feel indebted to you.”

Shiki leaves before he can lose his temper. He tells himself he's allowing this just this once because Orihara is injured.

-

Shinra does get in touch, babbling excuses, and Shiki has him come over. He sends him to the guest room without pre warning Orihara. It will be a nice surprise for him.

They’re in there together for a long time.

Shiki offers the doctor tea when he finally emerges.

“How’s he doing?”

“He’s OK.” Shinra rattles off a few platonics about the injury, that Shiki mostly already heard from the other doctor.

“How’s he doing in himself?”

Shinra looks briefly confused by the question.

“He’s OK,” Shinra says again. “He’s tired.”

Shiki nods. 

Shinra looks at him closely.

“Has he been...a bother? Because I can- “

“No bother,” Shiki cuts him off. “Just uncooperative. He thinks I want to poison him.”

“He can’t sit up” Shinra says. “It takes him about 15 minutes to get up for the bathroom. Perhaps he just doesn’t want to humiliate himself.”

Shiki hadn’t thought of this.

“I’ll get him a nurse.”

“I don't think there's any point now. He's almost there."

-

Orihara starts eating, and he does seem to start recovering with it. 

When he complains of cabin fever, Shiki gives him books, and they play chess or Mahjongg well into the night. He’s not sure why he doesn’t send Orihara home, or to Shinra at least. Part of it is sadistic pleasure at seeing him human and vulnerable, and part of it is greed. He doesn’t want anyone else taking care of Orihara. He wants to show him kindness and rub his nose in it. 

Orihara completes his assignment from his bed, in the space of two days from when Shiki gave him an unused laptop. His ability continues to surprise Shiki. Shiki would consider him a threat to his own position, if the informant clearly had no interest in anything other than what he does. 

“No charge,” he says to Shiki with a smile.

“You work for free now?”

“It’s a present,” he says. “To say thank you.”

“Hm. You’re welcome.”

He waits for Orihara to mention going home again, now this is done and Shinra has clearly offered, but he doesn’t. 

-

Orihara recovers well enough to get up and put on the clothes Shiki had cleaned for him. Shiki can practically smell his eagerness to nosedive back into his life.

“I hope you enjoyed your stay,” he says sardonically.

“I’ll leave you a good review.”

Shiki has been unable to find who did this, a blind spot on the CCTV, and this bugs him.

“Are you going to try and track down who did this?” he asks Orihara now.

Orihara shrugs, undisturbed.

“People are always trying things,” he says vaguely. 

“And what if they succeed next time?”

Orihara gives him a blank eyed look.

“What do you suggest?”

He suggests Orihara come clean with him. He suggests Orihara starts trusting him after years of working together, after being taken into his home when he was injured. But this is hypocritical he knows, he knows Orihara knows why he has always been given the most dangerous jobs. 

Orihara flinches when Shiki moves too quickly, and Shiki pretends not to notice, pretends he doesn't carebut it angers him that Orihara still thinks that he is the one behind this.

“I think I’ll call my driver for you. He’ll be here in five minutes.”

Orihara blinks, and smiles.

“Have I finally overstayed my welcome?”

“No, but I’ve forced my hospitality on you long enough.”

Orihara’s smile falters.

“Forced…? I don’t understand. Have I done something to offend you?”

“No, Orihara, and I think this is where we do not see eye to eye. I’m not punishing you. You haven't done anything wrong.”

“Of course. I know that.” He looks away, cheeks burning. Shiki looks at him steadily, seeing he has caught him off guard. The informant swallows under his gaze. “It’s just that...I have raked through everything and everyone and drawn a blank, so the only thing I could think of was that it had come from someone higher up. Someone capable of covering their tracks.”

He sneaks a look at Shiki, who returns his gaze, deadpan.

But Orihara's words make something occur to him. Orihara perks with interest as he sees the change on his face.

“Wait here.”

-

Akabayashi. It seems so obvious now. Once it's confirmed, Shiki has strong words with his colleague. If he wants Orihara to be put out of service, he will to do it himself. Akabayashi swears to never touch him again.

-

He comes back to Orihara reading a book on his couch, surprised and pleased that he’d stayed as instructed and not bolted. He takes off his jacket and makes tea for them both.

“I’ve identified your assailant.”

Orihara sits up with interest.

“Oh? Do tell.”

Shiki pauses, wondering if this would compromise things unnecessarily.

“Was it Akabayashi?” Orihara asks, reading his face. “It was, wasn’t it? It seems so obvious now that I think about it.”

“That’s what I thought too.” He pauses to take a sip of tea. “He won’t bother you again, so don’t give him any hassle.”

Orihara gives him a little smile.

“I didn’t know I was so important to you.”

Shiki chooses to ignore this remark.

“...thank you,” Orihara says. “How can I ever repay you?” He’s half sarcastic, but Shiki ignores this.

“You can trust me now and then. I understand your need to protect yourself, but loyalty is important.”

“I’m very loyal to you,” Orihara protests. “I’ve never given you any reason to distrust me.”

“Yes, but it goes both ways,” Shiki answers. “I expect you to trust me too.”

Orihara doesn’t answer. He seems to be thinking. 

“Do you remember when I was kidnapped?” he says, after a moment.

Shiki remembers.

“Kidnapped is quite a strong word. You were only gone a couple of hours.”

He remembers though, remembers confronting the assailants himself, yanking Orihara away from them unharmed and keeping him under his arm as he berated them, feeling Orihara shake, feeling something like pride, for protecting a child was probably the most moral thing he’s done in a long time, even if Orihara was a brat and it was Shiki’s fault in the first place.

He and Orihara - once he had stopped shaking - had shrugged it off, but Kine hadn’t been pleased. It left an iciness between the two older men that never quite thawed.

“I really fell for you that day,” Orihara says now, with no change in his tone. “I already respected you, but that dramatic rescue scene, how kind you were afterwards...I adored you.”

This he was not expecting. He keeps his face a careful mask, aware that Orihara could be testing him.

“...You hid it well.”

He means this. Orihara had had nothing but distance and contempt in his eyes whenever he looked at Shiki, especially nowadays. Any kind of respect or idolising seemed long gone.

“You made me nervous,” Orihara shrugs. “It was a weakness. It still is.”

“You’ve nothing to be nervous of around me.”

Orihara studies him.

“What’s the real reason I’m here, Shiki-san?”

He says it with a challenge to his tone. 

This is the moment Shiki should throw him out, should take assignments away from him to punish the disrespect in his tone. This is what he should do.

Half an hour later and Orihara is naked against the wall, whimpering and clinging to him, his heels digging into Shiki's back, complete disregard for his injury.

“Please. _P_ _ lease _ .”

“I had no idea you would beg so easily,” Shiki chuckles. “I thought you would take more work.”

Orihara makes a noise somewhere between a cry and a moan, and Shiki pushes the rest of himself inside.

-

Orihara dresses carefully, so as not to damage himself further. Shiki had tried to be careful with him, probably hadn’t quite managed.

“Try not to almost get yourself killed in future,” he drawls. “Whether it be through my associates or others.”

Orihara grins at him like this is a declaration of something meaningful, not a scathing comment.

“I will.”


End file.
